Governments worldwide are grappling with mounting challenges – from budget deficits to intricate global trade dynamics. Artificial intelligence (AI) could be the transformative solution public sector leaders desperately need, according to ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott.
“Governments are working very hard to be more efficient, more effective, more productive in managing deficits and in dealing with trade issues and complexities in the global economy that we haven’t seen in many, many years,” said McDermott.
Speaking at the recent HP Amplify customer and partner event, the chief executive (pictured) said he sees AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity for a radical reimagination of public service delivery.
“The world is changing fast,” he said, “and great organisations are leaning in,” he said.
McDermott’s vision centres on simplification and intelligent automation. “An employee should be able to … ask a system any question and get an intelligent, well-thought-through answer,” he said. This is a principle he believes applies equally to government workers and private sector employees.
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McDermott predicts a $20 trillion market created by AI between now and 2030, with every $1 invested potentially generating $5 in returns. For cash-strapped government agencies, such efficiency gains could be transformative.
Critically, McDermott advocates for a human-centric approach to technological transformation. This means using AI to free up employees to focus on creative problem-solving. McDermott referenced a 1966 Time magazine prediction that 90 percent of jobs would disappear with automation. But he pointed out that technological innovation has consistently created new opportunities rather than displacing people.
“Companies now have to rethink business models. They have to innovate. They have to bring new ideas… Let the machines do the thinking and the soul-crushing work that people never wanted to do anyway,” he said.
Government leaders must embrace technological change, but keep people at the centre, said McDermott. “We have to sharpen each other. The public sector and private sector has to cooperate, and we have to get people at the forefront of everything that we do.”
